FBI Director Comey must recuse himself from Trump-Russia probe

FBI Director James Comey should recuse himself from all further investigations into the 2016 presidential campaign and its aftermath.

Here’s why:

On Oct. 28, Comey announced the discovery of new Clinton emails, creating a media firestorm that tilted the election toward Donald Trump.

This week, testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey confirmed a report leaked to the media last summer that the FBI was investigating allegations of a connection between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Director Comey has put himself in an untenable position. He has a vested interest in focusing on Trump and Russia, because that narrative diverts our attention from his personal effect on the outcome of the 2016 election.

Comey could have shared his concerns about both campaigns before the November election, and let the public decide. He did not.

If it was appropriate to withhold information about an investigation into the Trump campaign in July, he should have applied that same logic to the Clinton campaign in October.

Hillary Clinton, charged not with a crime but by innuendo, paid the price at the polls. She was convicted in the court of public opinion.

Comey’s announcement this week that the FBI was investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government made national and world headlines and rocked the White House.

But why now? Why not eight months ago? Has new, substantive information been brought forward? Was there even a real investigation in July? Or did an insider leak a story to the FBI back then for political purposes?

Someone on the House or Senate Judiciary Committee should ask for the FBI agents’ time sheets over the past eight months to see if the Bureau was actually investigating, or whether this is another case of abuse of process — using an alleged investigation to smear a candidate.

A torrent of leaks and partisan charges has been passed off as fact. But was the Russia investigation, excuse the expression, a red herring?

On Wednesday, House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said he had proof of government agents’ “incidental collection” of information concerning Trump transition team members. Thursday, Fox News’ James Rosen reported that new questions have been raised about alleged spying by the Obama administration on the incoming Trump administration during the transition period.

Comey has publicly dismissed President Trump’s claim that the Obama administration wiretapped his campaign and transition teams. If that occurred, it happened while Comey was working for the Obama administration.

Should he be the one in charge of an investigation?

Director Comey has put himself in an untenable position. He has a vested interest in focusing on Trump and Russia, because that narrative diverts our attention from his personal effect on the outcome of the 2016 election.

At best, this is the textbook definition of a conflict of interest. At worst, it’s bait-and-switch.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, wisely, from an investigation into an alleged Russian role in the election, given his contacts last year with the Russian ambassador.

The American system of justice depends on the FBI being above politics. Director Comey, with his unprecedented intrusion into presidential politics, has damaged public confidence in the Bureau.

To restore trust and to protect his tenure, he must recuse himself from all further investigations into the 2016 presidential election and the transition period.

For 16 years, Dennis Kucinich served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio, representing Ohio’s 10th congressional district from 1997 to Jan. 2013.